Brand You: The Art of Being Unforgettable

You can make the right people stand up and take notice. You can be first in line for that plum assignment or to line up backers for your first (or tenth) business venture.

And no, it’s not all about the packaging, although packaging matters.

It’s about capturing your “special sauce”. What makes you different from anyone else on the planet: your talents, passions, experiences, wisdom and promise. And wrapping those into stories, actions and visuals that consistently, compellingly and authentically show who you are.

Easy, right?

Let me throw one more element into the mix that may simplify it: integrity. Because the brands we trust most are those who are unerringly true to a core set of principles. Think Apple, Amazon, Coca Cola, Target. If their worldview speaks to us, we become raving fans.

The same can be true for you.

It starts with being exquisitely clear about you who are and what you offer. With boiling down your essence to a simple—yet powerful—big idea that resonates with your audience, while perfectly capturing what you bring to the table.

Some epic personal brands have developed this way. Oprah built a media empire around “Live your best life”. It works, not because it’s a catchy slogan, but because it appeals to the aspirations we hold most dear. It works because it’s a life philosophy that permeates everything she does. It works as a well-honed filter for the content that makes it to her platforms—TV, radio, magazine and digital.

Lady Gaga combined her unique blend of songwriting, fashion and performance art with the visceral experience of being bullied into a global brand. She created “Born This Way”, a love letter of encouragement to her little monsters, and birthed a foundation to spread her message beyond music.

In the business world, being a rock star means following your big idea, even when it takes you to some unplanned stops. Sheryl Sandberg at Facebook followed a non-linear path by following some early advice which became a mantra: “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat. Just get on.” She didn’t let her age or her gender or her ego keep her from embracing risky (but exhilarating) challenges.

Sona Mehring, founder of CaringBridge, found her calling when a friend’s high-risk pregnancy turned tragic and she was tasked with sharing the news. Connecting people facing serious health challenges to family and friends became her big idea—and launched a movement that now serves 500,000 people a day.

Jennifer Hyman and Jennifer Fleiss, co-founders of Rent The Runway, had a more light-hearted—but still big—idea. To give young women access to their dream closet: “Love. Wear. Return.” They created a community for the fashion-forward—supplied by marquee designers and staffed with stylists—to share their style with fellow fashionistas.

Every one of these success stories started with a single idea that became the core of their personal brand.

You have one too. It’s waiting, buried in your talents, passions and unique experiences, for you to name it.

To start digging, I challenge you to answer these questions:

–>Think about times when you felt at the very top of your game—slam-dunking good. What were you doing? Who were you doing it with?

–>When adversity hit, how did you rise from the ashes? What wisdom did you reap? Why are you a better person for it?

–>What did you create when you felt most open—when love for what you were doing literally coursed through your veins?

Brand You, the unique promise that you have to give to the world, starts here.